Engineering Student Leaders’ Self-Assessments of Leadership Skills

Abstract

In the 21st century, graduating engineering students are required to have many skills beyond traditional technical skills. Leadership education in engineering has had an increased development over the past few decades, however there is still a lack of understanding of the effectiveness of these programs. This paper summarizes the results from a pilot study conducted with a group of undergraduate students. Engineering student leaders were given a leadership self-assessment at the beginning and end of their semester. Overall, a slight improvement was observed in the majority of the leadership competencies including character, teamwork, and technical. Male students had a decrease in their teamwork skills. Both genders ranked themselves lowest in technical abilities, however male students rated themselves significantly higher relative to female students. The findings from this study could be useful to develop and improve engineering leadership education programs based on the gaps of student competencies.